One Small Bite
by Arizona Sky
Summary: Regina is a prisoner in Snow White's castle after her execution was cancelled, one day a young girl wanders into her tower. Little does Regina know that this child is Snow white's daughter and will change her life for good. Set at the time of Regina's imprisonment and 15 years later, eventual Swan Queen. T for now. Please review! I loooove reviews!
1. Chapter 1: Forbidden Fruit

"It has been six years to this very day since we put the Evil Queen safely behind bars and I do not regret my decision for a moment. We are a good people, a noble people and our decision to imprison rather than execute a prisoner shows that. We will not stoop to such evil to achieve a goal, instead, we will always strive to find a better way, a good way to get results and keep our people safe and pure of heart. The Evil Queen never understood that and that is why on this day for the past six years and for many more to come we celebrate our freedom from her reign and her wicked influence. Happy Liberation day everyone, stay free and stay happy."

The crowd roared in jubilation as Snow White finished her speech and stepped down from the dais with elegance. Her kingdom had grown and prospered since she had taken her rightful place as ruler and the people loved her. It was a day of celebration and no one had a worry in sight, except for Snow White…

"Emma!" Snow called as she ran down the hallways of the castle flanked by two guards. "I asked you to watch her for ten minutes while I gave a speech. Ten minutes and you manage to lose her!" She fumed as she pushed open doors and looked behind statues. Snow never usually left the care of her daughter to anyone other than herself and Johanna but she had given her the day off to spend time with her family, being a national holiday and all.

"We're so sorry your majesty, the princess said she was just going to use the privy and-"

"And you believed her? You've known my daughter for five years and how she will do anything to run off and cause havoc somewhere." She put her hand to her head and sighed in exasperation. " Look, you two split up and look round the castle and I'll meet you back here in an hour ok?"

"Yes your Majesty, right away." The guards replied as they rushed off to scour the grounds for the young princess lest they get themselves into any more trouble. Snow White watched them disappear round the corner before resuming her own search for her beloved yet troublesome daughter.

Emma smiled wickedly as she made her way through the maze of secret passageways that ran through the castle. Those guards had been the easiest ones to trick yet, two minutes and she had escaped them. She smiled to herself as she shimmied along this latest tunnel. Emma hated being cooped up. She was watched all day every day and even had a guard stationed outside her bedroom at night time. She couldn't climb trees, she couldn't play with the other children outside the castle walls, she basically couldn't do anything apart from read, unless she managed to give her parents of Johanna the slip. She just wanted to be a normal kid and play outside with everyone else but she had been denied that simple pleasure simply because of her birthright, so this was her only means of escape. For a few minutes she could just be herself.

Emma sneezed loudly causing an explosion of dust and cobwebs ahead, she hadn't explored this passage before, she had only found it the other day and already it was becoming interesting. All the other tunnels went down or displayed the odd spattering of steps but this one was narrow and winding and nothing but steps; she must be travelling towards the top of the castle. Finally she came to the end. She examined the grey brick work carefully, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she concentrated. An apple fell out of her pocket and as she spun round to catch it, her back pressed against the wall and caused the door to open suddenly, dumping the princess on the floor on the other side with a loud thump.

Regina turned away from the window with a hiss. Stupid peasants, using any excuse to celebrate and get drunk. Liberation day was a ridiculous excuse for Snow White to pamper her ego and throw a party whilst she was stuck in jail. A day to celebrate them making the 'right' decision? What a load of tripe, the only reason the Queen wasn't dead was because precious Snow White didn't have the balls to do it. Never mind, soon Regina knew her day would come and her revenge would be even sweeter.

She was startled out of her bitter imaginings by a loud thump coming from the wall opposite her cell. She scoffed disdainfully as she spoke:

"You might as well come out you Imbeciles, I can hear you, obviously subtlety was not one of the skills taught to you in your training."

She sighed at the lack of response wishing they would just get it over with already.

"Look, I have things to do, lives to destroy, so if you're going to persist with your pathetic little game of insulting me and throwing things I suggest you hurry up before I bludgeon myself to death out of boredom." Regina called out in irritation waiting for the onslaught to begin. Snow White may consider her people 'good' but she had obviously never observed her prison guards up close for more than five minutes or she would realise they were far from it. The men had stopped fearing her and now used her imprisonment as a source of amusement, binning her food and throwing both objects and insults at the Evil Queen seeing which ones would strike home. She started growling under her breath with impatience as she waited.

"Why would I want to throw things at you Miss?" a small voice said from behind the wall.

A blonde head peeked out from around the corner as a little girl stepped into view. She couldn't have been more than five or six, Regina wondered who was irresponsible enough to let a child run around the dungeons unguarded. An Unsuitable playtime activity didn't even start to cover what this insanity was.

"What are you doing here child?" The Queen asked, ignoring the girl's question.

"I Live here and I'm exploring," she responded quickly, "what are you doing here?" the girl continued, stressing the 'you' petulantly.

"Well clearly I live here too girl, so don't get clever with me. Can't you tell by the lustrous décor of my chambers? You are in my bedroom so I suggest you get out before I get mad. Scurry off back to the kitchens or wherever it is you came from," Regina finished, pressing herself up against the bars menacingly but the girl paid her no heed and approached her curiously.

"Your bedroom is locked too huh?" she asked sadly, "I know the feeling. Mine is only locked at night though, how come yours is locked in the day time?" Regina's brown knitted together in a frown, clearly this conversation wasn't going to be brief. She would have to resort to scaring the girl off instead.

"My room is locked because I am being kept here as a prisoner little girl. You owe me your allegiance. If I hadn't been locked away by your precious King and Queen I would be ruler of this land and you peasants would bow and scrape before me in fear." She finished with a wicked gleam in her eye but the small blonde was undeterred. In fact, she looked uninterested as she rummaged around in her cloak pocket for something.

"Aha!" the child exclaimed, holding the apple aloft, it's red skin gleaming in the pale light. "I almost forgot about lunch for a second," she raised the fruit to her mouth and was about to take a bite when she remembered her manners. "I'm sorry, would you like one?" she said, revealing another from her pocket with a flourish.

"That question is invalid. No I would not like an apple, as God knows how long it has been rolling around in your pocket and even if I did I should not have to ask. In fact, you'll find that it is you who should seek permission from me, since that is an apple from my tree in the gardens." Regina finished haughtily, eyeballing the girl disdainfully. She needn't have bothered; the child just shrugged and took a bite of the fruit before speaking again with her mouth full.

"Say what's your name lady?" she asked as she chewed, completely disregarding the Queen's previous statement. In response to her silence the girl continued speaking. "My mother hates apples, she won't even go near one. She says she had a bad experience with one and a bad lady gave her food poisoning or something. Though, to be honest I think that's great because that means more apples for me and I love apples!" The girl paused to look at Regina with mild annoyance. "Look, I was only trying to be friendly, it's bad manners not to give someone your name when they ask. If I really want to know that much I can just go and ask the guards outside you know." She stated as Regina became a shade paler.

"It's Regina," she snapped as she turned away from the bars in anger. Who did this child think she was, threatening her with the guards. Once she got out of here she would make her and her ill mannered family pay, whoever they were.

The blonde saw she had upset the woman in the cell and immediately felt guilty.

"I wasn't really going to ask the guards," she said quietly. "Especially if they're as horrible to you as you say. I just wanted us to be friends," she finished, hoping the mysterious woman would turn around. Only silence and stillness followed. The child sighed as she shuffled back towards the wall, her shoulders slumped. "Well anyway, it was really nice to meet you Regina and thank you for the apple, it was really good." Regina felt herself softening at the child's words though she tried her hardest not to.

"What's your name?" Regina asked quietly before the girl left and she was alone again.

"Emma," came the soft reply.

The Queen spun around in shock only to find the room empty once more. The only sign anything had changed was the lone apple sitting by the bars of her cell, beautiful and untouched. A gift from the daughter of Snow White. Regina laughed at the irony.


	2. Chapter 2: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

**A/N: Hi guys! sorry for the delay in posting! I've had a busy week and this stupid computer keeps deleting my double line spacing. Please R and R (I do love a good review, it makes me happy inside!) This chapter is a little dark but nevertheless I hope you enjoy it. All mistakes are my own as I have no Beta. Happy reading!**

It had been seven days since the young Princess came to visit the Evil Queen and although Regina hadn't seen her come and go through whichever secret cubbyhole the girl frequented, her fleeting presence was un-doubtable. She would awake from a fitful nights sleep on her straw pallet to find an apple or some other form of fruit placed carefully within the bars of her prison.

The first day she had ignored the offering only to regret it later when the guards noticed it's presence and used her fare as yet another projectile missile. That evening she had gone to bed with a black eye and an empty belly as a result. The next day she had dropped the fruit out of her small barred window and into the moat below. She didn't want charity from the daughter of Snow White; she would rather starve, and starve she did.

By the end of the seventh day, left hungry by the guards withholding her food and bruised from their constant mistreatment, the former Queen finally gave in. She bit into the crisp red flesh of the apple with relish, letting the juice dribble down her chin and the sweet flavours explode inside her mouth. She didn't care if she was messy, hell, she had sunk about as low as she could go, who cared about table manners when you were starving and incarcerated against your will. Regina was so focused on devouring the first food she had consumed in days that she didn't notice the guard entering her tower until it was too late.

"And what have you got there Your Majesty" The prison attendant said with a sneer coming closer to the bars. Regina took the apple from her mouth and wiped her chin daintily before staring at him with unveiled hatred, his rat like features and greasy blonde hair suiting his unsavoury personality and giving him the nickname of Rodent. If she ever got out of this cell he was the first one Regina would kill, even coming before Snow White.

"What has the little bitch been hiding eh? A secret stash of fruit? Are you burying your food in the dirt like the filthy dog you are?"

"Well you're one to talk about filthy, peasant. I don't wash because I haven't been given the opportunity, but you on the other hand obviously choose to go round smelling like an open sewer. And as for calling me a dog, I'm not the one going round stealing other people's food from the table am I? I hope one of the kitchen staff tries to poison me and you die burning from the inside out." Regina finished, seething as she spoke. In truth, Snow White fed her captivse well with nutritious but simple fare, however she was not aware that most of that food never got to Regina and was in stead devoured by the prison attendant and his cronies and today was no different. The guard's face went white with rage at the brunette's comment. How dare this bitch captive talk to him in that manner.

"Give me that apple" He said menacingly, pressing his face up against the bars trying to intimidate his victim.

"No," Regina replied simply. She was sick of letting him get away with tormenting her.

"Give it to me or I swear little lady you will regret it."

She stared at him disdainfully for a beat considering his words. Regret it? She had spent the past year 'regretting it' since this new officer had been appointed. If there was a way to make her life even more miserable than it already was he would find it. At least with Leopold it had been brief and uninteresting when he took her but with the guard it was a nightmare. Her skin crawled with the thought of it, he loved reminding her who was in charge, making her look at him whilst he got off and called her dog or bitch in reference to the magical dampening collar she wore. She would probably pay for her actions later but maybe she could break his neck while he tried to get at her. At least then she would have some sort of revenge before her death.

Regina threw the apple towards the bars of the cage, hitting the guard square in the face. He screamed with an animal rage as he ran back towards his office to grab his metal catching pole. When the officer returned it was with another man in tow and they both preceded to unlock Regina's call and slam the door open with a clang.

"You should not have done that you little bitch," the guard said, spittle flying from his mouth and onto his filthy shirt. He grabbed hold of her hair and pushed her up against the wall before fondling her breasts whilst the other soldier held her down. Before things could go any further a shout rang out from behind them.

"Stop what you are doing this instant before I call my father!" Emma cried in outrage and shock as she beheld the scene in front of her. She had snuck into the tower hoping the former Queen would have softened enough to have a conversation with her not to find the guards attacking her friend. She knew Regina said the guards had been mean but this was on a whole new scale. There was blood on her lip and she was being held against the wall with one of the men's hands touching her where he should not be allowed to touch. The young girl's face went red with rage and embarrassment. How could they be doing this to her? She was a prisoner but Emma thought she was nice. Her mother had always said that it was important to treat prisoners like humans not animals and this was beyond that.

Regina looked at the girl in shock before registering what she was seeing.

"Emma you shouldn't be here," she said, her voice laced with both anger and the tiniest bit of worry. Anger at being seen in such a weak and pathetic state and worry because she was just a child, even if she was the Spawn of Snow White.

"You shut up!" the other guard said, slamming the brunette against the wall once more. "Don't speak to the Princess."

"No, YOU shut up," Emma replied. "This Lady is a prisoner of my kingdom and should be treated with respect. How dare you be horrible to her and hurt her, it's wicked. You better let her go right now before I recommend my mother have you executed in stead of put in prison."

The guards let Regina go grudgingly and advanced towards the Princess. They would surely be put in prison for this, maybe even executed and all that was standing in their way was an annoying little kid. They could kill her and make it look like the prisoner did it, tricked the young princess into opening her cell. Rodent and his wing man smiled wolfishly as they came closer.

Emma felt funny. When she was mad she got this strange tingling all over her body like thousands of tiny pin pricks fizzing under her skin and strange things started to happen. She felt like she was witnessing the scene unfolding in front of her from somewhere else. Colours started to merge and the guard's faces started to distort. One of the men; the horrid blonde one who was leader grabbed Emma with his meaty hands and shoved her to the floor while the other held back Regina who had run forward and was trying in vain to reach her. He took a knife from his pocket as if in slow motion and moved forward to strike.

The scream ripped from Emma's mouth before he had even started his descent and both men were thrown back to the wall with a violent crack. They lay there not moving, sparks of blue magic dancing over their skin and dissipating into the air. Emma's chin began to quiver before she let out a wail. Regina was there in an instant, holding the little girl as she sobbed into her dirty dress. Emma had never seen anything like this before, let alone had anyone try to kill her. She didn't understand what was going on, except Regina was there holding her whilst she cried and drawing all the strangeness away. Her skin finally stopped tingling as the last of her magic drained into Regina's collar and Emma looked up at her with watery eyes.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed quietly as she looked down at the floor.

"What for?" The Queen asked in confusion, wondering at the girl's sudden change in demeanor.

"For being a baby," Emma started to explain. "Those nasty men were being horrible to you for ages and hurting you. You should have been the one crying not me. I'm sorry."

Regina was puzzled at the child's reasoning. The girl was sorry she had cried after having almost been stabbed... because they had been worse to her? What a strange thing to say. She was either very selfless or very stupid, putting Regina's emotions before her own. Maybe she was a bit of both, after all she did have Charming as a father.

"It's alright Emma," she replied regarding the young girl carefully before choosing her next words, "Evil Queen's can't cry so I'm glad you did it for me."

What was happening? Why on earth was she seeking to make the brat feel better? Emma smiled weakly as she brought her small hand up to Regina's face wiping away the single tear that had managed to leak it's way free.

"I think you're telling a lie," the young blonde stated simply.

Regina jerked away from her touch in shock, the Princess' hand stinging like a red hot poker. When was the last time someone had touched her with such tenderness? When was the last time she had let someone? This was all too strange, she had started to feel something again and it was all because of a little girl. This wouldn't do.

The former Queen was snapped out of her thoughts by the sounds of shouting and booted feet pounding up the stairs of the tower. Charming burst into the room with a contingent of guards and rushed over to the pair, ripping his daughter from Regina's grasp.

"Trying to escape from prison, attacking two palace guards and my daughter Regina? For this I will make sure you are hanged!" The Prince shouted in rage, clutching his struggling daughter to him as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp.

Excellent, Regina thought to herself bitterly. Yet again she was going to be punished for doing the right thing, for trying to help one of Leopold's cursed spawn. At least this time the punishment would be quick and at least this child wasn't as irritating as her mother.


	3. Chapter 3: Illusion and Truth

Regina stared at Charming with vehemence; the idiot Prince was just as bad as his simpering wife. Both convinced of their utter righteousness and yet stupidly blinkered to the world around them at the same time. They seemed to believe everyone was good at heart and could be trusted, well, everyone apart from Regina that is. He would obviously take the word of a thieving rapist over her own. It was at times like these Regina wished she hadn't taken such a dark path in life then just maybe someone would believe her, even though she felt she had no choice. But then again if she'd have done the 'evil' thing and let the young Princess be murdered she would be free right now and making her escape through the forest. It was all because of that troublesome child, why didn't she just let them kill her? She knew the answer in her heart though she was loathe to admit it. That little girl was the first one in years who acted like she gave a damn about her and that awakened emotions inside of her that Regina had long thought dead.

"Put me down!" Emma yelled, struggling in her father's grasp.

"Emma, be patient sweetheart, I'll get Johanna to take you to your room so you don't have to be in the same place as this criminal for a moment longer." Charming said to his daughter, struggling to keep a hold on her tunic as Regina looked on, her brows furrowed in anger.

"I don't want Johanna," she whined, finally getting free of Charming's iron grip and rushing over to Regina. "Father, Regina saved me! That horrible man was going to stab me and she was fighting him and his friend to try and make them let me go."

The Prince regarded his daughter with absolute horror.

"Oh my God, what has she done to you Emma? My little girl. She's bewitched you! You're going to pay for this Regina I swear on my-"

"I'm not bewitched father! It's the truth," the young Princess exclaimed, trying to get through to him. "She's innocent in all this I promise."

"That's the enchantment talking Emma, I know you don't really believe that. If she did nothing then why is her cell door wide open and two of my guards unconscious on the floor? And why are you even here, you know this tower is forbidden. This woman is evil Emma; she only seeks to hurt us."

The young Princess' lip started to quiver as she tried to hold back tears.

"She's not evil father she's not!" Emma proclaimed, setting herself between the Prince and the Evil Queen." And I'm not enchanted, don't be stupid and say I am."

"Emma!" Charming barked at his daughter, outraged at her cheek as Regina held in a small smirk.

"Well it's true! She can't do magic cause you put that metal collar thingy around her neck. Those men have been stealing her food and being horrible to her for ages father."

Charming regarded the brunette suspiciously she looked straight through him whilst his daughter spoke. Regina didn't care what the simpleton thought, he would get his, of that she was certain.

"I was walking by the tower and I heard shouting so I came upstairs. I know I'm not allowed but you and mother taught me I was to always do the right thing and help people in trouble."

Regina raised an eyebrow in amusement at her comment. Maybe there was hope for the little Charming girl after all, using her parent's own words to justify her rule breaking, she was clever this one and definitely didn't take after her father when it came to smarts. The Princess evidently had more than two brain cells to rub together which was more than could be said for Charming. Somewhere a village was missing it's idiot. She was snapped back into the present by the Princess' next words.

"They were hurting her father," Emma continued, sniffling. "They were hitting and hitting her and wouldn't stop and they were grabbing her here," the young blond finished, gesturing to her own flat chest.

Charming's face blanched at his daughter's implications. Thankfully she didn't fully realise what they meant. He shifted his gaze to Regina who couldn't hold eye contact for more than a few seconds and turned her face away, her cheeks colouring with anger and with shame.

"Emma, go to your room." Charming said quietly to his daughter as she waited on his response.

"But Fa-"

"I said, go to your room Emma. I am your father and you will obey me. Look," he continued softening his tone. "I believe you ok. I just need to speak with Regina alone to clarify a few things. It's grown up stuff and I don't want you involved sweetheart."

The young blonde looked like she was about to protest when she felt a soft hand pressing gently on her shoulder. Emma turned round to face Regina who gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

"Fine..." the Princess replied suspiciously before continuing, "but if you make her sad I will never forgive you," Emma stated quietly, staring her father in the eye before she ran out of the room and down the stairs, her footsteps echoing throughout the tower.

Charming sighed as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. Sometimes he wished his daughter wasn't so strong willed. It would eradicate many a headache, but who was he kidding, Charming loved his daughter and would much prefer Emma's knack of causing trouble than a daughter who was obedient and her mind vacant with no thoughts of her own.

Both the Prince and Regina were startled by the sound of feet pounding up the stairs. Snow White bust into the small tower room, the air being expelled from her lungs in ragged breaths at her exertion. She regarded the situation with more than a hint of confusion and was about to grab for a weapon when her husband's voice stilled her.

"Snow, Emma is fine, she's back in her room."

At this the young Queen visibly relaxed, the main cause of her worry over but she did not forsee the explanation that was to come, as she seldom did.

"Emma heard shouting and came to investigate. She found the guards harassing Regina and then they turned on her and tried to kill our daughter. Regina tried to stop them and apparently she succeeded" he said, gesturing to the unconscious guards. "And that's when I came in with my guards. Emma has verified everything Regina said and by the look of her I believe she is telling the truth."

"You believe I'm telling the truth?" Regina snarled striding forward only to be held back by Charming's retinue. "Let go of me!" she shouted, lashing out until Charming gave the command to stand down. " I have been starved on and off for weeks, been beaten regularly for entertainment and raped one after the other by your so called Prison guard and his little friend and all you can offer me in apology is you_ believe _I'm telling the truth?" Regina laughed with incredulity, its shrill sound piercing the air as Snow White stepped back from her horrified.

"As usual Snow my dear, you fail to acknowledge the very horrors that go on right under your nose, just like with your father. He was no different in many respects. He didn't beat me or starve me but he treated me like dirt and took me whenever he felt like it, even though I was only eighteen. Just a few years older than you, his darling little girl, except I had no one to protect me."

Snow gave a little sob of horror as she sank to the ground holding her head in her hands.

"Regina stop this at once!" Charming snapped, moving protectively in front of his wife.

"Stop what dear? Enlightening your beloved to the truth? To be a good ruler you must be aware of everything that goes on in your palace and I mean everything or how can you seek to control your staff?" The former Queen had recovered herself somewhat and moved back to her cell, sitting on her straw pallet the exhaustion written plainly across her face. "Now, I suggest you do whatever it is you have decided to do to me. However, before you send me to my fate I would quite enjoy a bath as I have months of filth to wash away and I don't just mean the physical kind." The brunette finished, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall as Snow and Charming recovered from learning the horrible truth about their Prison staff. Regina sighed to herself, calming her nerves with the feel of the cold stone flags underneath her feet. Really, was a bath too much to ask for? The truth was she wasn't expecting freedom, she knew that much and she knew the pair in front of her would always hold her accountable for the hundreds of lives she had destroyed or ended, but she was hoping their guilt would outweigh their anger and they would let her relax in a warm bath, even if it was just for a minute. Then she could stop thinking. Stop thinking about those men, her past, her anger and rage against the world and the most confusing of all her changing feelings. She no longer was content with simply dying or fading away, Regina had a renewed sense of determination. She would get out of here and make them all pay. However, she knew deep inside that a tiny corner of her heart had turned away from rage and revenge and opened up to something else entirely.


End file.
